Last week, the hospital announced it isn’t allowing anyone under 12-years-old to visit patients until further notice.

On Monday, one of the hospital’s pediatricians said it will likely be a month or more before they go back to the regular visitor policy. Dr. Lyn Ranta said it hasn’t reached the peak of flu season and the hospital doesn’t plan on lifting the restrictions for at least four weeks after the peak.

The policy is in place to make sure patients in the hospital won’t be inadvertently exposed to the virus.

“We really felt it was the best and safest care to make sure we restrict young visitors in particular,” Ranta said. “Because they often times don’t know when they’re going to become sick. They aren’t good at articulating those early symptoms that may mean they are contagious.”

Several other area hospitals also have visitor restrictions in place including Froedtert, St. Joseph’s, Community Memorial hospitals and Aurora Health Care Centers.